Railroad bed cleaning machine



Jan, 19, 196@ ANDRES ETAL RAILROAD BED CLEANING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Oct. 29, 1956 Jan, 19, 1966 H. ANDRES ET AL 2,921,636

RAILROAD BED CLEANING MACHINE Filed Oct. 29, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v f gfifi IHIHHTH]KIXHWIIIIIIHIIIIIlllllll a United States Patent 2,921,636RAlLROAD BED CLEANING MACHINE HelmutAndres and Ernst von Hayn,,Butzhach, and Eduard Roemert, Minden, Westphalia, Germany ApplicationOctober 29, 1956, Serial No. 641,787 Claims priority, applicationGermany October 28, 1955 (Filed under Rule 47(a) and 35 U.S.C. 116) 4Claims. Cl. 171-16 The present invention relates to machines forcleaning railroad beds.

It is well known that from time to time the gravel and ballast or othersimilar material on which the ties of a railroad track are locatedrequires cleaning. Conventional machines which do this cleaning causedelays in the travel of trains which pass over a track during the timethat it is cleaned. Thus, a considerable number of the ties have thegravel or ballast removed therefrom while this materialjs being cleaned,and when a train has to pass over a track during cleaning thereof it isnecessary to prop up temporarily a relatively large number ofunsupported ties, and this operation is exceedingly time consuming.Furthermore, some of the conventional railroad bed cleaning machinesrequire their own special tracks which run alongside of the tracks forthe train. In view of the amount of traflic which is carried by railroadtracks in modern times, there is a need for a machine which is capableof quickly and efficiently cleaning a railroad bed while causing aminimum amount of delay to trains which use a track during cleaning ofthe bed which supports the same.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a machinewhich is capable of cleaning a railroad bed without the use of specialauxiliary tracks for the machine and without the necessity of placingthe machine on the main tracks of the railroad bed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a machine which atany given time leaves only two ties unsupported, so that when a trainpasses over a railroad bed during cleaning thereof it is only necessaryto prop up a pair of ties, and such propping of a small number of tiescan be carried out in an extremely short time.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a railroadcleaning machine which is located for the most part outside of the spacethrough which a train travels and which has only a relatively smallnumber of movable parts which can be easily moved out of the path of thetrain, so that when a train travels over a railroad bed which is beingcleaned, the machine can easily be positioned so that train can passwithout any difliculty.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a structurecapable of accomplishing the above object and at the same time composedof simple and ruggedly constructed elements which are very reliable inoperation and which have a minimum of parts.

With the above objects in view the present invention mainly consists ofa railroad cleaning machine which includes a main vehicle and anauxiliary vehicle adapted to be respectively located on opposite sidesof a railroad bed just beyond the ties thereof. These vehicles areinterconnected at their front ends by a horizontally extending ballastremoving means which is located slightly below the railroad ties inorder to convey material of the railroad bed from beneath the ties tothe side of the railroad bed where the main vehicle is located. Theballast removing means is the only interconnection between the twovehicles. The main vehicle is connected to a framework which carriessuitable cleaning apparatus and con veyors for conveying material to thecleaning apparatus and for conveying the cleaned material from thecleaning apparatus back to the railroad bed.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of a railroad cleaningmachine according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine of Fig. l;

. .Fig. 3 is an end view of the machine of Fig. 1 as seen from the leftend thereof in direction of arrow A;

Fig. '4 is a transverse sectional view of the machine of Fig. 1 takenalong line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view of the machine of Fig. 1 takenalong line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the machine of theinvention includes a main vehicle 1 and an auxiliary vehicle 2 which, asindicated in Fig. 2, are respectively located at opposite sides of therailroad bed just beyond some of the ties 30 thereof. As is evident fromFigs. 3-5, the vehicles 1 and 2 are so positioned that they are locatedout of the path of a moving train which moves through the spaceindicated in dot-dash lines in Figs. 3-5. The vehicles 1 and 2 each havepropelling means in the form of an endless track means 1a-and 2a,respectively engaging the railroad bed. The track means of vehicles 1and 2 are independently driven by motors 3 and 4, respectively, themotor 3 being shown in Fig. ,1 and the motor 4 being shown in Fig. 2. Byregulation of the speed of the drive means 3 and 4, the vehicles 1 and 2are controlled so as to travel at the same speed. However, because ofthe endless tracks of these vehicles, they adapt themselves to whatevercurvature the ground takes.

The vehicles 1 and 2 are interconnected at their front ends by ahorizontally extending ballast removing means 5. As is apparent fromFig. 2, ballast removing means 5 is the sole interconenction of thevehicles 1 and 2. Furthermore, as is evident from Fig. 2, the support 55of ballast removing means 5 is interconnected with the front respect tothe vehicles 1 and 2, and thus it is possible to v 'adjust the elevationof the conveyor 5. Ballast removing means 5 includes a reciprocatingrake 5a. As is apparent from Fig. 2, the teeth of the rake 5a are soshaped that the gravel, ballast, or the like of the railroad bed will beshifted toward the side of the bed where the main vehicle 1 is locatedwhen the rake 5a reciprocates toward the side of the bed where thevehicle 1 is located, while the inclination of the teeth permits rake 5ato move with respect to the gravel, ballast or the like, withoutsubstantially shifting the latter when rake 5a is shifted toward theside of the railroad bed where the auxiliary vehicle 2 is located. Therake 5a is carried by the support plate 51 which rotatably supportsdiscs 52 having excentric pins 53 respectively fixed to extensions 54 ofthe toothed part of the rake 5a, so that during rotation of discs 32rake 5a is reciprocated back and forth while still moving slightly tothe right and left, as viewed in Fig. 2. The support plate 51 of rake 5acarries a motor 6 which serves to drive on a smooth surface.

The adjustment of the elevation of the ballast removing means 5 isprovided by a separate drive which includes the motor 7 shown in Figs.1-3. This motor 7 may drive a suitable worm 71 which in turn rotates awormwheel 72 having connected thereto a disc 73 with an eccentric pin 74which serving as a. crank arrangement elevates or lowers a linkage, notshown, connected at its lower end to support plate 51 of ballastremoving means 5, so that inthis way the motor 7 may be used to form adrive for adjusting the elevation of ballast removing means 5.

As is particularly evident from Figs. 3-5, the vehicle 1 is surroundedin part by a framework 8 which is connected at its side directed awayfrom the vehicle 2 to an additional framework 9, so that this framework9 is supported in part by the vehicle 1. The side of the framework 9which is distant from the vehicle 1 is turnably connected to a pluralityof wheels 10 which directly engage the ground and thus serve togetherwith the vehicle 1 as a support for the framework 8, 9.

The framework 9 carries just behind the discharge end of the conveyormeans 5 a chute 11 which receives material from rake 5a and guides thismaterial upwardly and rearwardly. A suitable guide plate 11a is fixed tothe chute 11 extending, therefrom part way around the discharge end 512of rake 5a, as indicated in Fig. 2, so as to guide material onto thechute 11.

The framework. 9 additionally carries an inclined. conveyor band 13which is driven by a pair of pulleys 12, and one of these pulleys 12 isin the form of a rotatable housing of a motor, or the pulley may haveits own independent driving motor, so that the conveyor 13: isindependently driven. The band conveyor 13 is carried by the framework 9in a position which enables it to receive material from the chute 11 andto convey this material upwardly and toward the rear of the framework 9,the upper run of the band conveyor 13 moving upwardly and. to the rightas viewed in Fig. 1.

The frame work 9 also carries a cleaning means in the form. of avibrating sieve which is driven by its own independent motor 14 throughsuitable pulleys and linkages. It will be noted from Fig. 1 that thereceiving end of the sieve 15 is located beneath the discharge end ofconveyor 13, so that the material falls from the conveyor 13 onto thesieve, and the vibrations of the latter serve not only to clean thematerial but also to transport the material toward the discharge end ofthe sieve 15 which is located at the right end thereof, as viewed inFig. 1.

The right end of the framework 9, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, carries ona pivot means 91 the frame 92 of a third conveyor band 18 which isdriven by one or more rollers 16' which may be driven by their ownseparate motors so as to drive the conveyor band 18 independently of allof the other devices which make up the cleaning machine ofv theinvention. The. outer end of frame 92 of the conveyor band 18 isconnected to a support structure 93 which carries a framework 94 ofanother conveyor band 19 positioned to receive material from theconveyor band 18, and is evident from Figs. 25, frame 94 of conveyormeans 19 is pivotally connected to the free end of the frame 92 ofconveyor means 18 for turning movement with respect thereto about avertical pivot 95, so that the conveyor means 19 is capable ofdistributing the cleaned material over the railroad bed. The framework93 located at the left end of the conveyor means 18, as-viewed in Figs.35, carries a suitable motor driven structure 96 which is capable ofautomatically reciprocating the conveyor 19 angularly back and forth ina substantially. horizontal plane so as to continuously distribute thecleaned gravel, ballast, or the like over the conveyor bed. The

conveyor band 19 is turnable on rollers 17 one of which.

is independently driven by a suitable motor connected thereto (notshown). The conveyors 18. and 19 are capableofbeing turned about thepivot 91 of the conveyor 18 on the. framework 9 throu.gh an. angle whichlocates both of'tliese conveyors 18' and 19 out of the path throughwhich a train moves, and it will be noted that it is only the pair ofconveyor means 18 and 19 which are located in this path during theoperation of the machine. Thus, it is a very simple matter to turn theconveyor means 18 with respect to the framework 9 through a suitabledrive or byhand through an angle in a clockwise direction, as viewed inFig. 2, which is sufficient to locate the conveyors 18 and 19 out of thepath ofa moving train indicated at 80 in dash and dot lines, and afterthe conveyors 18 and 19 are thus retracted and after the unsupportedties 30 are properly propped up, the train can pass. Thus, a minimumamount of delay is caused by a cleaning of the railroad bed with thestructure of the invention. As is particularly apparent from Fig. 2, itis possible to so arrange the parts that at any given time it is onlynecessary to prop up a pair of ties of the railroad bed in order topermit a train to pass over the .bed during cleaning thereof.

The framework 9 also carries a chute 20', shown in Figs. 1 and 2, andthis chute 29 is pivotally supported for movement about a pivot at itsleft end, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, so that the elevation of the chute20 may be adjusted, this chute 20 receiving some of the cleaned materialfrom the sieve 15 and delivering this material to the part of therailroad bed which is located behind the main vehicle 1. The conveyormeans 18 and 19'distribute the cleaned material over the remainder ofthe bed, and the angular swing of the conveyor means 19 is sufficient tolocate the cleaned material behind the vehicle 2 as well as on the restof the bed all the way up to the main vehicle 1.

As was mentioned above, one of the pulleys for each of the conveyorbands 13, 18 and 19, may be in the form of an electric motor, and all ofthese motors as well as the motors 3, 4, 6, 7, and 14 independentlyreceive their current from a motor-generator assembly 21' which is alsocarried by the framework 9 and which is controlled from the operatingstation 22 over suitable relays 23 diagrammatically indicated in Fig. 1.Of course, the drive of the machine and its several components can becarried out in any other suitable manner, although it is an importantfeature of the invention that each of the mechanisms has its ownindependent drive.

During the operation of the railroad bed cleaning machine of theinvention, the gravel, ballast, or the like is removed from beneath afew ties by hand so that the horizontally extending ballast removingmeans 5 can then be placed beneath these times and connected to thefront ends of the vehicles 1 and 2. After the elevation of thehorizontal ballast removing means 5 is adjusted, the motors 3, 4, 6, 12,14, 16 and 17 are operated. The machine now moves along the railroad bedand the rake 50 moves the unclean material from beneath the ties anddelivers this material by end portion 5b to the chute 11. The materialmoves up the chute 11 to be received by the conveyor band 13 whichdelivers the material to the vibrating sieve 15. The greatest part ofthe material which is cleaned by the sieve 15 is redistributed by way ofthe conveyor means 18 and 19 back to the railroad bed in the mannerdescribed above, while the chute 20 receives a relatively small fractionof the clean material. The chute 20 has a free end 20a projectingrearwardly beyond conveyor means 18 in order to deliver this smallfraction of material to the part of the bed which is located behind themain vehicle 1. The foreign matter and other impurities which areseparated from the gravel, ballast or the like by the sieve 15 fallthrough the same onto a slightly inclined plate 9a and are laterallydropped at the side of the railroad bed laterally of the gravel thereof.

As was pointed out above, when a train passes over a partof the railroadbed which is being cleaned by the machine of the invention, it is onlynecessary to move the conveyormeans 18 and 19 out of the space throughwhich the train travels and it is only necessary to prop up the twoties. which are unsupported at any given time as by placing suitableblocks beneath these ties. Also, a device may be included with themachine of the invention in order to temporarily prop up any ties whichdo not have gravel, ballast, or the like located therebeneath duringcleaning of the bed and While a train is passing thereover.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofrailroad bed cleaning machines differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in asubstantially automatic railroad bed cleaning machine, it is notintended to be limited to the details shown, since various modificationsand structural changes may be made Without departing in any way fromthespirit of the present invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine for removing the ballast of a railroad bed fromunderneath the ties and rails, in combination, a pair of vehicles spacedfrom each other a distance equal to at least the length of a railroadtie, each of said vehicles including movable propelling means adapted torest on the base of the railroad bed outside of the ties on oppositesides of the ties for propelling the respective vehicle in direction ofthe rails, each of said vehicles including a drive means connected tothe propelling means of the respective vehicle for driving therespective propelling means; an elongated horizontal ballast removingmeans forremoving the ballast underneath the railroad ties, said ballastremoving means having end portions located forwardly of said propellingmeans of said vehicles, respectively, for smoothing the base of therailroad bed for the passage of said propelling means; said end portionsof said ballast removing means being respectively supported on saidvehicles substantially in the horizontal plane of said propelling means,said ballast removing means being the only connection between saidvehicles so that the machine can remain in operative position whiletraffic is going over the rails.

'2. In a machine for removing the ballast of a railroad bed fromunderneath the ties and rails, in combination, a pair of vehicles spacedfrom each other a distance equal to at least the length of a railroadtie, each of said vehicles including endless movable propelling trackmeans adapted to rest on the base of the railroad bed outside of theties on opposite sides of the .ties for propelling the respectivevehicle in direction of the rails, each of saidvehicles including adrive means connected to the pro pelling track means of the respectivevehicle for driving the respective propelling means; an elongatedhorizontal ballast removing means for removing the ballast underneaththe railroad ties, said ballast removing means having end portionslocated forwardly of said propelling track means of said vehicles,respectively, for smoothing the base of the railroad bed for the passageof said propelling track means; said end portions of said ballastremoving means being, respectively, adjustably supported on saidvehicles substantially in the horizontal plane of said propelling means,and being adjustable for adjusting the elevation of said ballastremoving means, said ballast removing means being the only connectionbetween said vehicles so that the machine can remain in operativeposition whiie traffic is going over the rails.

3. In a machine for removing the ballast of a railroad bed fromunderneath the ties and rails, in combination, a pair of vehicles spacedfrom each other a distance equal to at least the length of a railroadtie, each of said vehicles including endless movable propelling trackmeans adapted to rest on the base of the railroad bed outside of theties on opposite sides of the ties for propelling the respective vehiclein direction of the rails, each of said vehicles including a drive meansconnected to the propelling track means of the respective vehicle fordriving the respective propelling means; an elongated horizontal ballastremoving means for removing the ballast underneath the railroad ties,said ballast removing means having end portions located forwardly ofsaid propelling track means of said vehicles, respectively, forsmoothing the base of the railroad bed for the passage of saidpropelling means; said end portions of said ballast removing means beingrespectively supported on said vehicles substantially in the horizontalplane of said propelling track means for operational movement and beingadjustably supported on said vehicles for adjusting the elevation ofsaid ballast removing means, said ballast removing means being the onlyconnection between said vehicles so that the machine can remain inoperative position while traflic is going over the rails; means on saidvehicles connected to said end portions of said ballast removing meansfor adjusting the elevation of said ballast removing means; and

moving means connected to said ballast removing means for operating saidballast removing means.

4. A machine as set forth in claim 3 wherein said ballast removing meansis rceiprocable in longitudinal direction thereof and transverse to therails.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,567,509 Jackson Dec. 29, 1925 1,613,420 Warr Jan. 4, 1927 1,770,552Robb July 15, 1930 2,196,880 Van Voorhis et al Apr. 9, 1940 FOREIGNPATENTS 701,498 France Jan. 12, 1931 1,073,510 France Mar. 24, 1954

